Improvcd connection of the caff to the masts of navigable vessels



UNTTEn STnTEs PATENT TEicE.

CHARLES R. FISHER, OF CHELSEA, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMFROVPD CONhECTION 0F THE GAFF T0 THE MASTS 0F NAVIGABLE VESSELS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 417,01EQ, dated March29, 1865.

To all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, CrmuLEs R. FrsHER, of Chelsea, in the county ofSuft'olk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful orImproved Mode of Connecting a Gat'f to the Mast of a Uavigable Vessel 5and I do hereby declare the same to be fully described in thefollowing'specitication and exhibited in the accompanying drawings.

Figure l of such drawings is a side. elevation of a fore-and-aft sailhaving its gaft' con structed and applied to a mast in accordance withmy invention. Fig. 2 is a top view of the mast band or annulus, thegatf, and their connections, as detached from the mast.

The nature ot' my invention consists in a peculiar mode of applying agaft' to the mast of a vessel-that is, encompassing the mast with anannulus or band-and so connecting the gatt' to such band that it (thegat't') may not only be freely turned in either a horizontal or avertical plane, but during the act of either raising or lowering thesail the said band shall be caused to maintain or nearly maintain itsconcentricity with the mast, whereby not'only a great amount offriction, time, and physical power is saved in working the sail, but agreat saving in` the wear and damage both to the'mast and gaff iseffected.

It is a fact well known that the method heretofore generally adopted forconnecting a gaff with a mast of a vessel is attended with seriousobjections. In the iirst place, during the act of either running up77the sail or lowering it, the saddle or t'urcated end of the gait' citenbecomes set77 on the mast, thereby causing delay and trouble in workingthe sail. In the second place, besides the un equal wear of the gaft' onthe mast, the jerking on the halyards to loosen the gait' when it hasbecome set on the mast causes indentations and roughness in the surfaceof the mast. To remedy these difficulties is the object of my invention.

In the said drawings, A may be supposed to represent the deck or aportion of the deck of a vessel; B, the mast, and C a fore and ait sailconstructed and applied to its gaff D ard boom E, and connected with themast by hoops Z), in the ordinary manner.

In carrying out my invention, instead of apply ing the saddle orfurcated end of the gait' directly against tle surface of the mast, Iafiix tothe inner end or head ot' the gait' two curved metallic arms, 0o, formed and applied to the gait' in manner as shown in the drawings.Each of said arms, near its outer end, has ahole or eye madetransversely through it, for the reception of one of two journals, 19 p,formed on the outer ends of two trunnions or projections, a a., whichare disposed on opposite sides ot' the mast-band F, and at a dis tanceof a hundred and eighty degrees from each other, as shown in Fig. 2.

By thus attaching the gat't'to central points on opposite sides of theband E, instead of applying it directly tothe mast, any force which maybe exerted on the head of the gaft' will be equably transmitted to suchcentral parts of the band, and thus allow the band to preserve itsconcentricity with the mast. This band or annulus may be made ot' ironor other suitable material, and may be either rectangular, elliptical,or cyliudricalin cross-section or it may be partly rectangular, orelliptical,and partly cylindrical. Its inner surface should be plain orslightly convex. The said band should have a diameter somewhat largerthan that of the mast which it is to encompass, so as to be capable ofbeing slid freely on the same. In order to diminish as much as possiblethe friction ot' the said band F on the mast when the sail is beinglowered, if desirable, there may be arranged on the front halt' of thesaid band a series of rollers, f f, &c., and for the purpose ofdiminishing friction and to aid in causing the band F to preserve itsa-Xis in a vertical plane or coincident, or nearly so, with the mast;another series of similar rollers, f, may be disposed on the inner halfof the band. This application of friction-rolls, however, I do not deemessential to my invention, and may be employed -or not, as maybedesirable.

c c are two halyards, which are rove through two blocks, d d, attachedto the mast in the usual manner, the said halyards having their upperends respectively attached to the gaff, as shown in the drawings. e isabelayingpin, to which the lower ends of the halyards may be fastened.

From the above it will be seen that my improved mode of connecting thegait' with the mast has several important advantages: First, itpreventssetting or choking of the gaft on the mast, and thereby enables the sailto be e ,'enly upon the most, and with comparatively handled mucheasier, and consequently with much less force; second, it greatlylessens the unequal Wear and injury to Jthe mast ineident to the oldmethod; third, in consequence of the gaft' being attached at centralpoints on opposite sides ofthe said mast-band, the greater part of thegravitating force ot' the gaff and sail, when the halynrds are let go,passes upon the band at such central points, and thus causes the band toslip down little friction.

I claim- My improved mode of attaching a gaft'to the mast of a vessel,the same being substantially in the manner and so as to operate as andfor the purposes Set forth.

CHARLES h. FISHER.

W tn sses:

JOHN BUCK, WM. C. FISHER.

